


peep, peep

by lyssy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Humor, Lance is (briefly) in the nude, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 09:05:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9484277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyssy/pseuds/lyssy
Summary: Keith and Lance being neighbors on the Castleship wasn't exactly a problem.. until it was, and Keith walks in on his teammate changing!





	

Outside the barriers of the Red Lion, Keith was hunched over with his hands on his knees, flexing tired knuckles from when they'd been clutching a mop. During Coran's recent case of the slipperies, it'd been advised everyone keep things clean around themselves, too. By Coran himself. Though, Keith found himself thinking it was just the man's way of keeping them out of Allura's way. He really wouldn't mind if it weren't for the fact that exhausting herself further might as well be like leading mice to cheese on the trap, with the Galra empire constantly on their tail and all. The Princess must have thought she was playing coy in the control room, as if she wasn't keeping pinpoints on Galra controlled sectors. Hygiene in the Castle was the least of their concerns.

"Better grab a mop!" Coran had said, intentionally moving in Keith's way and flicking sweat from his brow. "Sorry about that."

"No sweat," Keith replied unironically.

Frankly, he found himself preferring an hour of cleaning to an hour of battling enemy ships.

It had become routine of the Galra to track them, just about every day. Ever since the team had reunited from that wormhole fallout, the enemy had been on their tail ruthlessly, and even more vicious than before, if that were possible. It was then that he had to remind himself it wasn't about preferences. Zarkon could be back any minute, and wouldn't that be another rude awakening? If he was a sitting duck, he was no use. Besides, he had his own troubles to tend to. Starting with the dagger he towed on his belt everywhere. Enough of the nonsensical cleaning. Real matters were to be attended to, with Allura's acceptance or not.

 _Well,_ Keith stood straight again and meandered out his lion's hangar, _back to the grind._

His boot sploshed in a stream of sweat that winded through the Castle hall. "You gotta be kidding me," Keith deadpanned.

~

  
After chores were attended to, Keith found himself reasonably exhausted. When he visited the control room, it was empty. For extra measure, he checked the map of their route.

Nothing in sight.

His mind gave in then and led him back to the bedroom quarters, distractedly turning over his trusty dagger in hand. Everyone had finished their chores, and they were most likely taking advantage of their free time in the most normal ways possible, so why couldn't he? At the very least, he wanted an excuse to steal Pidge's laptop in attempt to decode the meaning of the hidden symbol on his dagger. Sitting still didn't feel like a good option anymore. It didn't feel like a normal option. If, for once, he could just have something to actively work his mind off of that, he might gain a sense of peace. To each Paladin, they probably had their own hobby they could bring from home. To Keith, he had a knife. And something so sharp like that, well, it wasn't exactly a normal hobby.

Distracted, Keith meandered past his bedroom, and the freshly mopped marble floors were so slippery that he lost his footing coming around. He stumbled past sliding doors and into the nearest room, at first convinced he was in the right and paying heed to nothing but the floor he walked on.

That's why it'd come as a severe shock to what he saw next: a familiar blue robe, only pooled and crumpled around bare ankles at the far end of the room. Keith's eyes grazed up taut brown legs, and he was sure a yelp escaped him to see that, yep, that was Lance's bare butt. And if he was being blunt here, it was a nice one, too. Lance's jeans did zero justice for it. He'd been a little too exhausted in the prior days to pay close attention to Lance's body. It'd been a strenuous day, and they were just heading to the pool, not to mention how much of a bust that ended up as. It was was probably meant to be ironic Lance had a slim swimmer's build, and his shoulder to waist ratio was definitely something to be appreciative of. He's a little fond of the way those taut shoulder blades had been pressed against his muscles just the other day. Though, he barely had time to marvel—process the look of his naked teammate, who was already screaming shrilly and going red in the face.

Lance was gathering what was his robe from the floor, lifting it to veil his private parts frantically. His hair was still matted and dripping wet, telltale signs of a recent shower.

 _Whoa,_ Keith did not say.

"DON'T YOU KNOCK," Lance cried, wielding a Blue Lion slipper as a weapon and chucking it straight at Keith's face. "Get outta here!"

"I'm—" Keith evaded the slipper, wide-eyed, terrified, and most likely mirroring the same shade of red of Lance. "—sorry!!"

Keith waved his hands, even his occupied one with the dagger, and the brunet before him went even more wide-eyed. Lance's mouth fell open at the sight of the blade instinctively waved before him. Keith quickly figured the combination of knife and waving did not send the right message of sorry. With another awkward, rushed apology, Keith turned and resumed frantic pace out Lance's room, teeth grit and poorly concealing his own cry of embarrassment.

The doors to Lance's room slid shut instantly, and an unbelievably quick sweat built under Keith's moppy bangs. He slid the back of his hand against his forehead, making a beeline for his respective room to the right. Even while closed, he could hear his neighboring Paladin whining indistinctly about the invasion of privacy.

Once within the safety of his own room, Keith quickly went to hide his dagger under his pillow, and then stood sighing over his bed. He tapped his foot.

He just saw Lance naked.

Naked.

Keith drew a deep breath. It was fine. All would be forgotten within the next dobosh, it wasn't like he and Lance didn't have the same parts.

Lance just happened to have really nice ones.  
Keith was exhaling a roughly bated breath again. Where had he been going with that? Thinking of his teammate in that sense, that was dangerous. Lance was his frenemy, his fellow Paladin, the local noodle. He was not someone to marvel or gaze upon.

Except he was, and that was awfully distracting. Funny enough, at least Keith didn't have to worry about something trivial not occupying his time. Nothing was quite like a puppy crush, if that's what it should be called. He would at least avoid Lance for the rest of the day.

  
~

  
They were all called to dinner the next hour.  
Keith hesitantly walked into the dining hall, and thankfully, only Shiro and Coran were in the room.

"Where's everyone else?" Keith made attempt to sound nonchalant and picked a seat across their team leader.

"Probably on their way," Shiro grabbed a cup from Coran, who was carrying a tray of beverages. "Thanks."

"No problem!" Coran said, setting the tray atop the table and sliding a drink to Keith. "It's a real treat tonight. Hunk prepared these special! He says they're similar to an Earth drink. Coffee, he said! Aw, that guy. Whatta giver."

"Did Lance come by?" Keith asked impulsively, and Coran paused thoughtfully.

"I don't think so," Coran said.

"Is he...y'know, uh, coming?" So much for being stealthy about the ordeal.

Shiro perked an eyebrow, exchanging glances between the two.

"I'd assume so," Coran answered again, and then proceeded to waffle on.

Keith stole narrow glares at the entry doors on either side of the dining hall. Shiro cleared his throat audibly, and Keith blinked owlishly in return, as if to say an innocent, _what?_

"Apparently coffee beans carry the same consistency and flavor as Yenoga beans, so that's why—"

"Uh, Coran?" Shiro interrupted, and Keith felt himself sink against his chair. "Maybe you should check how Hunk's doing in the kitchen. See if everything's alright."

"Right," Coran nodded and turned heel, making a quick exit. "Right, I should make sure he didn't mistake the Yenoga for Rinzir! We'd be feeling that for weeks!" He made a gesture of waving his hand in a _poowee_ sort of way.

As soon as he fled, Shiro trained his attention back on Keith, wearing the same quizzical, concerned look to ask the obvious. "Something happen with Lance?"

Something was always happening with Lance, but Keith did not mention that. Instead, he knit his brows back at his team leader, visibly harrowed to speak the truth.

"I walked in on him changing."

"Oh. That's all? Can't be anything," Shiro raised his mug to his face, placid over what he figured was a minor mistake.

"No. No, Shiro," Keith shot a cursory glance of the dining hall. "I saw...stuff."

"Oh," Shiro said again, the brim of his beverage stopping short of his mouth. He winced slightly. "Do I...want to know?"

"I don't think so."

Shiro sighed and shook his head with something Keith familiarly noted as 'it's always too early for this stuff'. He sipped whatever bean blend Hunk had concocted in the kitchen, and speak of the devil, Lance strode through the dining hall entrance.

Normally, Keith could care less about what the Blue Paladin had to say upon entry of a room, but he found himself gulping down something akin to fear.

 _Fear!_ He couldn't believe it. _Of Lance!_

Pidge was following in tow of Lance as he took a seat beside Shiro, thankfully.

"Word is we got coffee now," Lance's voice was naturally full of smirk.

Keith exhaled a bated breath. Maybe he didn't notice.

"Oh," Lance's voice dropped, sullen. "The Peeping Tom's here, too."

If Keith had a dollar every time he thought something too soon.

"I am not!" Keith snapped his previously lowered gaze up, eyebrows furrowing. "I didn't mean to—I was trying to—I am not a Peeping Tom!"

Pidge dropped a metallic cartridge she'd been fiddling with on the tabletop, glancing at Keith. "You're a what?"

"Peep, peep, peep!" Lance made a puppet with his hand. His cheeks had a fair amount of color to them already.

Shiro looked like he was chugging his beverage while side-eying Lance on his side. He practically gasped when he retracted the brim of the cup to his mouth. "Look at that. Need a refill," he stood up promptly. "Pidge, you should try some."

 _Smart excuse,_ Keith thought as Lance crossed his arms and continuously scowled at Keith.

"As a matter of fact," Pidge scooted out her chair again, hastening around the table. "Yeah, sure."

Keith wasn't entirely sure if this was Shiro's way of letting them solve the situation out for themselves. It's like Black Paladin was making it a personal habit of leaving Keith to muddle out his own mess, and he was not liking it. It had been a childish argument to start anyway. So what? He saw Lance's butt. And other things. It was nothing to get fussy about.

The pout on Lance's face insisted otherwise, and he seemed to wait until Shiro and Pidge's footsteps were merely echoes down the hall.

"What'd you see?" Lance asked, squinting.

"Nothing," Keith replied too quickly to be convincing.

Lance leaned back in his chair, tongue in cheek while giving a flat, "Uh-huh."

Keith felt like he could hear his own heartbeat in the room. He couldn't recall a conversation with Lance ever feeling quite so grueling. It was probably the imagery of his teammate's naked body clouding his thoughts, and he didn't like it. More so, he didn't like the distraction. He liked the imagery, more than he'd ever want to admit. Keith wished simple could at least define his relationship with Lance, but that was the problem. Simple was not Lance, and whatever revolved around their lives as a duo, it wasn't exactly cherries and icecream.

"Okay!" Keith said, like it was forced out of him. "I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"Your ass."

"Aah!" Lance's hands flew to his face, and Keith quirked his head slightly. "Don't...use that word."

"What, ass?"

"Yes," Lance hissed between his fingers. "That word."

Another thing: Lance was such a child. He could pretend to be as cool as he wanted, but the second someone dished out what he gave back at him, the guy would go red as an apple. Keith found frazzled Lance very endearing. When he wasn't having a bad case of jabberjaw, he was cute.

_Cute? Oh, no._

Keith maintained his composure and scoffed. "But you asked—"

"I know what I asked!" Lance interjected, a hand fetching up to fluff through short chestnut locks.

Keith almost felt himself mirror the gesture out of sheer embarrassment. His stomach felt like a bundle of nerves, one he could not control. The last thing he wanted was to stir more tension between them, though.

"It shouldn't matter," Keith wagered for a feeble smile, his attempt for a cheerful tone haphazard. "It's nothing I haven't seen before."

Lance frowned. Had those not been the right words?

"'Scuse me?" Lance was squinting at Keith as he were a flea. One that had to be squished immediately, the Red Paladin figured.

"As in we have the same parts," Keith emphasized, face gone sour momentarily. "We're both guys."

Lance shrugged unreadably. A prolonged silence befell the two, and Keith kept unabashed watch of how the color in Lance's cheeks lingered. If there were a reason Lance was so tight-lipped on the matter, he wasn't saying it. He never said much to the Keith besides taking part in arguments with him. Sometimes they were playful, other times not. Even if Lance was an open book, he was a total mystery to Keith.

"I just, um," Lance's voice went small, and he looked up at Keith from under lowered brows. His head stayed a little hung. "I mean, no one's really gotten lucky enough to see those parts of me, so I was expecting some kind of comment."

"Oh, lucky," Keith rolled his eyes with a feeble sneer, a chuckle escaping him.

Lance's underlip puckered out it a remarkable pout. "Yeah," he countered tightly.

"Well, I wasn't gonna make a comment," Keith said. "But if you want me to, it was, uh...it was ni—"

"Ah!" Lance waved a hand before himself, eyes screwed shut as the flush in his cheeks came back with a vengeance. "No, no! No, I wasn't asking you. Don't make this weirder than it already is. Don't finish that sentence."

Again, Keith felt his eyes do another impromptu roll. It was all in good nature, though. Their arguments never resulted in something that came down to pure hatred. Much as Lance tried, every argument started was as fruitless as banging clay rocks together. In the end, everything fizzled to dust, and they would start again from there.

"You kinda scared me back there," the easygoing smile that was gracing Lance's features snapped Keith out of his daydream.

"Huh?" Keith blinked.

Lance made a motion with his finger below the table. "The knife."

"Oh," Keith glanced to his waistband, at the bulky belt around his hips. He raised his gaze back up. "No, yeah, it's just...something I have. To calm me down."

"You say that like it's a rattle," Lance laughed, and Keith's chest went tight. Out of fear or embarrassment, he didn't know. "I thought you were gonna stab me!"

The pressure in waiting for some anvil to drop left Keith. His pinched face eased into something pleasant. "I wasn't gonna—" Keith laughed, scrutinizing Lance with a grin bigger than he'd like to admit. "You're so.."

"That would've been a terrible way to die!" Lance shook his head vigorously, shoulders jumping with giggles.

"How?"

"Naked!"

"Oh, my ga.." Keith leaned his head in a gloved palm. "Yeah, it would've been."

Lance was going silent again, and Keith would've worried had it not been for that full-wattage smile on his face. "Never do that again," his tone sounded serious, though his expression was anything but. "Or at least buy me dinner first." He gestured to the table.

That sounded like a challenge, and Keith could not tell if the latter was a joke or not. He'd best not pry into it for the sake of saving whatever oddball dynamic they had going on. He liked these moments best.

**Author's Note:**

> it was pointed out to me that lance and keith have rooms right next to each other, and this fic had to exist! where was i going with it? no idea. :3c in case you're wondering, this fic takes place after episode 5 s2 events.


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